Musings of a sixty-something Catholic laywoman who has made The Promise to participate as a Pauline Cooperator in Fr. James Alberione's vision of evangelization through the new means of social communication.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

"not all Christians agree with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson"

Cross-Walk America is near Amarillo, Texas on its 39th day of walking across the country. My brother Mark reports that the hospitality of the host families is almost distracting from the goal of Cross-Walk America, which is "TO TRY TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE THAT NOT ALL CHRISTIANs AGREE WITH PAT ROBERTSON + JERRY FALLWELL ..."

Mark, are you reading my blog? I know you know I am posting your updates. I wonder what you will think of a novena to St. Charles Lwanga. Cross-Walk America's blog indicates that the most controversial aspect of their movement, at least to those Christian churches with whom they try to make contact as they walk, is a codicil of affirmation 5 of the Phoenix Affirmations.

Affirmation 5 is: Engaging people authentically, as Jesus did, treating all as creations made in God’s very image, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, nationality, or economic class;The controversial codicil to Affirmation 5 is: As Christians, we welcome those of every race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental ability, nationality, and economic class into the full life of our community. [emphasis mine.]

Any Catholic, I think, can agree with this if it is not accompanied by an insistence on the right and/or the goodness of homosexual activity or any sexual activity that does not adhere to Christian teaching on sexual morality. The Catholic Church welcomes all into its community life, although it reserves the right given by Christ to the apostles and their successors to bind and loose the bonds of sin that keep a person from enjoying the full, sacramental life of the community.

The sticking point, as is true in the general debate about homosexuality and Christianity, is whether treating all as creations made in God’s very image means accepting the revisionist interpretation of scripture that says sexual moral teaching in the early Church was wrong. The same sticking point exists in the debate about abortion and Christianity. The revisionist interpretation says that the culture of the twenty-first century is more enlightened than that of the first, and that the early Church's condemnation of both homosexual activity and abortion was culturally conditioned, and now out of date.

In fact, rather than being influenced by first century culture, the early Church broke with the surrounding culture in both matters. Both homosexual activity and abortion (as well as infant exposure) were acceptable in the Graeco-Roman culture.

Mark wants me to find a hospitable church to offer shelter and food to CrossWalk America in or near Cumberland, MD. I wonder what an orthodox Catholic parish would do if approached. I think offering a welcome to the group would be a good thing. CrossWalk America is willing to debate or discuss any and all of the Phoenix Affirmations with any group, even those who disagree.

Here is Mark's latest entry.

CROSS-WALK AMERICA DAY-39ODIN's DAY** (WEDNEsDAY)-24-MAY-2006

**LINGUISTIC-LY, OUR WORD "WEDNEsDAY" IS RELATED TO THEGERMANIC (OR "NORSE" OR "GOTHIC") WORD "ODIN" ... ODIN WAS A NAME FOR 1 OF THEIR "GODs" ...[NOW U KNOW WHY I USE A LOWER-CASE "s" WHEN I WRITE "WEDNEsDAY"]

TONIGHT WE STAY AT ANOTHER CHURCH-CAMP --- ACTUAL-LY MORE LIKE A "RETREAT-CENTER" ... A BIT NORTH OF AMARILLO,TEXAS ... OUT ON THE PRAIRIE: HOME-HOME-ON-THE-RANGE COUNTRY ... MANY DEERs + RABBITs, (+ COYOTEs!!) OUT HERE ...

AS USUAL, OUR LOCAL-HOSTs ARE AWE-SOME-LY NICE: WE HAVE A WHOLE BIG HOUSE ALL-TO-OUR-SELVES, AND THEY SAY'D "HELP YR-SELF TO ANY-THING IN THE KITCHEN" ... DINNER WAS AWE-SOME: YUMMY LASAGNA, A SEPARATE PORTION FOR VEGETARIANs: 3 OF US VEGGIE-EATERs NOW, AS THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF THE OTHER WALKERs JUST-TODAY ARRIVED FROM SOUTHERN-CALIFORNIA, AND SHE's VEGETARIAN ...PLUS: SALAD + BREAD-ROLLs + SODA + BEER ...

THE FOOD IS SO GOOD, IT ACTUAL-LY DISTRACTs FROM OUR GOAL, WHICH IS TO TRY TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE THAT NOT ALL CHRISTIANs AGREE WITH PAT ROBERTSON + JERRY FALLWELL ...

WE HAD A MEETING TODAY ---AN OFFICIAL MEETING --- IN AN OFFICIAL MEETING-ROOM, WITH COFFEE FOR GOOD-NESS SAKE, AND FOLKs WERE COMPLAIN-ING RE LOW ENERGY-LEVELs, AS THE WEATHER's BEEN VERY-HOT ALMOST A WEEK ... MY SUGGESTION THAT PERHAPs DRINK-ING BOTTLED-WATER WHICH WAS PROCESS'D BY "REVERSE OSMOSIS"WAS ---(ALMOST)--- SHOUTED-DOWN, AS I SAY'D THAT SEVERAL TIMEs ALREADY DURING THE PAST WEEK ... I FEEL TRUE-LY SORRY FOR THEM, BUT IT's AS THEY SAY: "U KIN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER, BUT U CAN'T MAKE IT DRINK" .....

MORE INFO RE THE WALK AT: www.CrossWalkAmerica.org AND 1-877-CWA-WALK

MORE INFO RE BOTTLED-WATER ON THE LABEL OF THE BOTTLED-WATER CONTAINER, BUT U NEED TO BE CARE-FULL, + SKEPTICAL, AS THEY'R NOT REQUIRED-BY-LAW TO TELL U HOW THEY PROCESS'D THE WATER, THO THEY SHOULD BE; AS NOT ALL BOTTLED-WATER IS CREATED EQUAL ...

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Welcome! A Pauline Cooperator is a layperson who follows Blessed James Alberione. The Paulines are all about media, traveling the world via airwaves & electrons telling stories of Christ to our wild, wounded world. A world that longs to find the Way, know the Truth & be given the Life.
I am wife & beloved to Bill Stabosz. We fell in love at 16, married at 19, & have gone 43+ years through hell & high water, low water, no water, clear water & back to sweet Eden garden of earthly delights. I am mother to nine fabulous offspring, six of whom married and brought cool mates into the family. I adore my 15 grandkids (two more on the way!). I have good friends, few enemies, & way cool siblings. I used to work a day job at the University of Delaware but I retired in June of 2007. Like Don McClean, the three Persons I admire the most are the Father, the Son & the Holy Ghost. They are maligned & misunderstood. I love them. The Trinity has never let me down. Ever. Or anyone else who trusts the Three-in-One. Anyone. You